Pacers brass take Roy Hibbert out to dinner

Pacers center Roy Hibbert walks off the court in disgust at the end of the first half of Game 2 Eastern Conference playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday, April 22, 2014.(Photo: Matt Detrich/The Star)

On the evening before Game 4, Roy Hibbert caught an Uber ride with team brass Larry Bird, Donnie Walsh and Kevin Pritchard. The party got lost riding around downtown Atlanta before finding a nice Italian restaurant near the team hotel.

This, according to Hibbert, who shared details of his Friday night meal after expressing surprise that a reporter brought it up.

"Who told you that? Nobody knew!" Hibbert said. "We just talked. We just had a nice dinner.

"Larry and I talked (earlier) and he asked if (I) wanted to go to dinner on (him). He had plans and he invited me with the three amigos."

Hibbert, who has struggled through the playoff series, described the dinner as "relaxing" as stories swapped across the table.

"I'm not really going to go into them too much but," Hibbert said, "one thing Larry told me was to just work on my balance when I'm out there on the offensive end. I tried to do that tonight whenever I got the ball."

Hibbert scored six points and had some decent looks around the rim, including a dunk and a post-move and finish. However, the Atlanta match-up once again did not favor Hibbert. He sat out the final quarter for the third straight game and has only played six fourth-quarter minutes all series, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Maybe the dinner put him into good spirits because while on the sideline, Hibbert was the loudest cheerleader — a far cry from the behavior he displayed on April 6 when benched against Atlanta. When Lance Stephenson committed a turnover late in the fourth quarter, Hibbert was the one who pulled his moping teammate back into the huddle and placed his arm around him.

"I've come to understand that the series may not have gone my way in terms of offense and defense, but I'm just going to do my part and hopefully put the team in a position to be able to finish well," Hibbert said. "So if I'm on the court or on the bench, I'm just going to support my teammates, no matter what."

Etc.

All five Pacers starters recorded at least one blocked shot. The team finished with 11 blocks. …Paul George became the first player since LeBron James (2008-09) to produce at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in three of his opening four playoff games, according to ESPN Stats & Info.